MUSIC PREVIEW: Morgan James is a triple threat

Vocalist James is not only a Julliard graduate, but she also pens her own songs and has had acting roles in such Broadway productions as “Godspell,” “Wonderland” and “The Addams Family.”

By Jay N. Miller/For The Patriot Ledger

From Idaho to California to a classical music education, to Broadway is enough of a head-spinning journey. But it was when Morgan James heard soul music that her real destination became obvious.

James has a new album, her third overall and second studio effort, “Reckless Abandon” being released today, and she has a pair of local dates. Tonight James and her band are appearing at Brighton Music Hall and Saturday night finds her at The Narrows Center in Fall River.

James was born in Idaho, but her parents moved around a bit, and she ended up graduating high school in Modesto, Calif. It was in Modesto that she began to cultivate her musical interests, and she would eventually attend the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City, focusing on the classical music she’d studied as a young lady and graduating with a degree in classical vocals with a special concentration in opera.

But James was also nurturing her acting ambitions and soon ended up performing on Broadway where her singing ability eventually, after the usual series of non-glamorous side jobs, earned her plenty of work. Roles in “Godspell,” “Wonderland” and “The Addams Family” were helpful and James was already exploring popular music. But it was when she landed the role of Teena Marie in the production for “Motown: The Musical” that James felt transformed.

If you were going to choose a mentor for soul music, few names would seem like a better choice than Berry Gordy Jr., and that’s exactly who was intrinsically involved in the Motown show. Before long James was fully committed to her singing career and focused on soul music. The first step was a live album, recorded over two sets at a New York City nightclub, which became “Morgan James Live: A Celebration of Nina Simone,” and was released in 2012.

“We never intended to record an album,” James explained, from her home in the Big Apple. “That was supposed to just be a live show I was performing, but Doug Morris of Sony heard our first two sets, and decided to record the next night’s two sets. It was an untraditional way to start off a recording career, and just really a moment in time. But it made for a nice release to have out there, while we were working on the next one, which would be all originals.”

James was not only determined to sing soul music, she was also dedicated to writing her own songs.

“I’ve never done anything ‘by the book,’” James said, laughing. “Berry Gordy Jr. encouraged me to write, and since I’d done ‘Motown: The Musical’ he had become a good friend and mentor.”

Constantly working on her singing, James also became a regular part of Scott Bradley’s Post Modern Jukebox, the group of musicians that plays superb covers of past hits. James, in fact, became known for being the central figure in the group’s cover of Aerosmith’s “Dream On.”

“Jukebox is a collective, so the group is always changing, as different musicians come and go,” James explained. “But that was a lot of fun, and I did 10 different videos with them. Obviously that is not original music, but the exposure I got performing with them, and all those videos, really expanded my fan base tremendously.”

James found the songwriting part more daunting than the performing part, but she kept at it.

“Songwriting was really intimidating, because I came to it later in life,” said James, 35. Singing comes naturally to me by now, and over the years acting has become much more natural to me as well. But I have always had a healthy respect for songwriting, putting your own words into a song. It is a challenging process, but also very rewarding every time you get one done.”

The new album includes a dozen songs, most of them originals James has co-written with a variety of other musicians.

“I don’t play an instrument so I rely on others who do,” said James. “In that way, my process for songwriting is always different; sometimes writing with someone on piano, sometimes with a guitar, and sometimes just crafting lyrics. I imagine some people can stick to a single process, but it seems to change every single time for me. I have refined my songwriting over the years. I think it was John Lennon who said ‘you can’t call yourself a songwriter until you’ve written 100 songs,’ and I’m still far short of that, but I want to keep working at it.”

James’ first studio album, 2014’s “Hunter,” included 11 originals and one cover, but it was that one cover that gained her some of her widest recognition. James did a version of Prince’s “Call My Name” that hit the Top 15 of Billboard’s Urban Chart, and got a thumb’s up from the Purple One himself.

“That’s one of the things I really proud about,” said James. “I’d have to say that was one of my biggest triumphs. I had been singing that song for years, before we recorded it. What happened was that (producer/record company executive) L.A. Reid, who was with Epic Records then, is a friend of Prince’s. He said ‘Do me a favor and listen to this?’ Prince did listen to it, and came back and said he loved it, which was just so fortuitous and gratifying for me. Of course, since his passing, that song takes on extra resonance for everyone now, and we sing it at every show.”

On this tour, James will be accompanied by a four-piece band, keyboards, guitar, bass and drums. Opening act Andy Allo will also provide backing vocals.

Embarking on a lengthy national tour, James can look back at her opera background and take some solace in the fact that she’s probably using all her various vocal experiences to help make her the singer she is today.

“Classical voice and opera remains my strongest base with everything I do,” said James. “Whenever I may feel lost or out of shape vocally, I turn back to the basics. Classical voice is like ballet – it never leaves you. Of course, I never knew opera singers who could do 10 or 12 shows in a row, like I do, and they seldom perform as often as we do. But I do try to keep my classical technique, and everything I’m doing comes through that prism, but it’s also all about the style you choose to utilize that technique in.” MORGAN JAMES 8 p.m. Friday at the Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave., Allston. $20, 617-779-0140, crossroadspresents.com; 8 p.m. Saturday at the Narrows Center for the Arts, 16 Anawan St., Fall River. $24, $27. 508- 324-1926, narrowscenter.org.